Loose-leaf binder



' Feb. 4, 1930.

LOOSE LEAF BINDER w. s. PROUDFIT ET AL 1,745,911

' Flgl 2 /4 p /0 151 A; 32 f Feb.,. 4; 1930. w. s. PROUDFIT ET AL 1,745,911-

LQOSE LEAF BINDER Filod Feb. V15. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 -Pate nted Feb. 4, 1 930 {WILLIAM s. rnounr'rr s'ren'ons ro rno'unrrr LOOSE ani". 00., or ronArroN or ivrrorrrenn 7 LOOSE-LEAF BINDE largenumber of free and otherwise unconstated, and particularlythe loose leafbinder constructlon which may be The cases may main open'at' such place.

Application :filed February 15, 1926;

This invention relates to a loose leaf binder particularly -ada1: ted for bindingtogether a nected leaves to whichgadditional leaves may at times be added or from which'any number of the leaves may be removed at will. One of the objects and purposes-0f the present in vention is to provide a struction wherein the book of leaves, socalled, may be completelyy-assembled an joined together on .the' po'sts which carry the 3 same and the .outer coverings or case within.

be placed may be man'ufactured and assembled complete in itself,

the attachment of the book to the case being -made'very simply and expeditiously. In this 'hich-the book is to manner alargenumber of the cases may be made'up separately, independently and distinctly from the remainder of the apparatus. 7

be "made up at onetime and.

d when an order is receivedfor p 7 I 1y to the bookbefore "attachment of the book stored away an" i i v a number of the loose leaf b1nders from any particular concern .the cases maybe prlnted ontheir oute'rsifdes with the desired vindicia;

and the remainder of the case may be made separately andlndethe apparatus to gowith pendently and not assembled Withthe cases until after it is assembledwith the various leaves of the book which are joine bound together connected with the case in the simple and expeditious manner previously noted.

A further object of the invention is to pro vide a constructionbf loose leaf binder which, when applied to a book of leaves, can

place and will re- A still further ob ject of the invention is'to provide case covers bereadily opened at any .hingedly connected to the book in such a manturn about axes lo- 7 ner that the covers may cated at opposite sidesof the book and either cover maybe thrown back from the without there being any cover to return to closed position.

Many other objects and purposes than those production of readily and easily manufactured and assemloose leaf binder conby such'. apparatus and then openings book J tendency for the.

Gneivn' RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, A con- Serial m. 88,186.'

I "Fig. 3 1s a, fragmentary vertical section (1 taken substantially on the plane of line.3 '3

riga l i Fig. 4 is a view similiar to Fig 3 but Show ing the upper cover of the case turned back to open.position. I;' f I Figs. 5 and Gare fragmentary vertical seclines 5-5 andG-G of Fig. 2. Fig; .7 is-a perspective View .of the case for thebook. Fig. Sisa perspective-view showing the arts of'the binder which are a-pplied'direct- Fig. 9 is a fragmentary-plan view with tions taken. substantially on the planes ANZD' EDWARD Fres men GRAND anrrnsimrcrrrenn, As.

. d-\ v parts brokenaway and 1n 'SQCtlOIl, showing;

holding the'bookof In the book of leaves indicated at 1, each" "theautomatic releasing latching means for"; p leaves bound together. d ,qLike reference characters; refer to' lik'e' leaf at one edge is formed with three spaced apart openings therethrough for the reception of the guide and binding posts. When the leaves are assembled together the like in said leaves are in vertical alignment. A. flat bar 2 is over the leaves from which posts extend through tWo of said openings, those nearest the ends of the leaves. Theseposts in condesigned to be placed) struction comprise a threaded section 3 from which a reduced shank 4: extends through the bar 2, being rivetedover at its end to make a permanentconnection. Asleeve 5 is located over the threaded sectlon 3 of the post havp,

ing a closed end with an opening therein through which the shank 4 passes so that when the endof the shankis riveted to the bar 2 sleeve 5 isfpermanently secured in dent in this manner that the projecting sleeve 6 may be adjusted on the post 8 so as to vary the over all length of the posts. This'is for the purpose of adjusting the binder to various thicknesses of books as leaves are added or taken away therefrom. The bar 2 at each end is formed Wltll a recess 8, as

shown in Fig. 8, and at a point midway between its ends is provided with a circular opening 9, the purpose of which will later appear.

A plate 10 having the same width as the plate 2, and also of flat metal, is designed to V be placed against the upper side of said plate 2. At its inner edge it is formed with an up-turned flange 11, the height of which in practice is between one-sixteenth and one eighth of an inch. Upon each end of the bar 10 a hinge member-12'is secured, it having a clown-turned lip 18 at its outer end and is also formed with a hinge pintle guide Mat the rear edge thereof. In practice these hinge members 12 are secured to the bar 10 by striking from each member 12 a circular eye 12? which 1s passed through an opening in the bar 10 and clinched thereover, which in combination with the abutment against flange 11.

makes a very economical yet secure and permanent connection.

Midway between the ends of the bar 10 an automatic releasable latching device is located. This consists of an upperplate 15 of flat metal having its ends turned downwardly under which a latching bolt 16 is slidably mounted. The bolt 16 is formed with an opening lr'itherein, of the shape shown in Fig. 9, and at one end of said opening a tongue 18 is struck The latching bolt is loosely received within an opening somewhat longer than itself made in a filler plate 19 located between the upper cover plate 15 and the plate 10, plates 15 and 19 being secured to the bar- 10 at their ends by rivets or other suitable connections. The

latching bolt 16 is normally moved in one di tends upwardly through an elongated opening 21 made in the upper plate 15 of the latch. The upper edge of the flange 11 and the upper face of the plate 15 are substantially flush with each other.

On the under side of the book of leaves a late or bar 22 of flat metal formed at its ront edge with a down-turned flange 23 is located, it being similar in construction to the plate or bar 10 with its flange 11 located at the upper side of the book, and sockets 24 to securethe lower endsof sleeves 6 are attached t1 the upper sides of the bar as shown.

6, having a closed outer end, is-

tion and engages an and turned upwardly.

1 binding structure,

Likewise hinge members 12 with up-turned lips 13 at their outer ends and with pintle receiving guides 14: at their rear edges are connected to the ends of bar 22 in the same manner that the corresponding hinges are connected at the end'sof the bar 10. In making this connection, however, vertical guides 5, at their lower ends being provided with in-turned feet 26, are disposed between the hinge members 12 and the under sides of the bar 22 so that in securingthe hinge members to said bar the vertical guides 25 are" also permanently and rigidly'secured in place.

. Midway between theends of the lower bar 22 a vertically extensible and adjustable post is mounted comprising a threaded section 3 with a shank of reduced diameter at its lower end. A sleeve 5 surrounds the shank 3 this sleeve being secured with the post to the bar 22 by heading over the outer end of the shank 4 in exactly the. same manner that the sleeve5 with the threaded post section 3 and shank l are connected to the bar 2. A telescoping sleeve 6 with an interior-1y threaded collar 7 at its, open end threads over the post 3 and telescopes into the sleeve 5% This post 6 is ing a rounded front surface and which is adapted to pass through the opening 9 in bar 2 and thence through an opening in the bar 10 where the latching bolt 16, having been forced back in opposition to springs 20 by the rounded head, returns to latching posiannular groove in the head 27, thus releasably securing the parts together against opposite sides of the book. The release of bars 10 and 2 from the head 27 is easily accomplished by manually engaging the tongue 18 and moving it to one side to disengage the bolt 16 from the groove 7 of said head.

In assembling the book of leaves with this middle openings previously mentioned. The

posts may be adjusted for the thickness of the book so that the lower ends of the sleeves 6 are received within the sockets 2 1 as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, while the, central post carried by the plate 22 is adjusted so that the head 27 passes through and a short distance above the plate 2. The plate 10 may then be placed against the plate 2, the down-turned v the lower plate 22 is laid .horizontally'flat and the book of leaves placed 25 with a similar plate 3 1 formed at its inner edge with an elongated intermediate pintle lips 13 being received in thenotches 8 in'theends thereof, and the grooved head 27 onthe sleeve 6 passing upwardly through and engaging with the latch bolt 16. The book is thus bound securely togetherand the leaves cannot be added ordetached without releasing the plates and 2 and removing them it -from the book. V

- The outer case or covering for thebook idcomprises two covers28 and 29 connected at their adjacent'edges by a flexible member 30 which is of a width sufficient that it may take in the greatest thickness of ,abook for which the apparatus is designed. At theinneredge portion of the covering 28 a sheetmetal plate 1 31 is riveted or otherwise permanently se-' cured, having an intermediate portion'at' its inner edge formed into an elongated pintle receiving guide 32. This plate is alsoformed with an opening 33 thereindesigned to come directly over the opening, 21 in the upper plate'15 of thelatch so as toafford space for the tongue 18 andthe, projecting head 27. of

' thehingemembers 12 which are connected ,to the plate or bar 10 and then passing a pintle rod 36 through the aligned guides 14:

and 32. In the same way the guide 35 is the central adjustable post. The opposite leaf 29 at its inner edge portion is equipped guide 35.

This cover or case 'is adapted to be connected to the book, bound'together as previously described, by placing 'pintle' guide 32 of the plate 31 between the two guides lt of placed between the guides 14 of the members 12 attached to the lower plate or bar-22 and a similar pintle rod 36 passed through these guides which are located in alignment.

This construction of loose leaf binders is one having many features of value and merit. The parts of the same are of simple 7 construction, all being readily formed by single order which may be received and the parts may be placed in storage until needed to supply an order. The cases may be made independently in the same manner and the assembly of the binding structure with the cases may be accomplished almost immediately.

' Afterthe caseis'applied to the book it is evident that the covers 28 or 29 maybe turned: about the axis of the pintle rods 36 and freely thrown to open position, as shown in Fig. 4 without in any manner disturbing the leaves.

It makes it possible to con-.

tongue 18to release the latch and removethe bars or plates 10 and 2 for adding'leavestof the book, taking them therefrom, orrearrangingtheleaves in difierent order. All' tu-re and eflic-iency in operation; make the invention-one of great practical merit. The appended claims define the invention-which is to be considered ascomprehensiveof all forms of structure coming "within their- 1."In a device ofthe class described, two clamping bars' adapted to be located at opposite sides and adjacentone-edge of -a 7 book of leaves, extensible'means for detachably connecting said bars together, two covers one at each side'ofthe book and joined'by a flexible back cover strip, and means 'on' each of the covers 'detachably and hingedly connected one to each of said clamping bars.

posite sides and adjacent one edgeof' a book of leaves, extensible means attaohed'to one of saidc'lamping bars and adapted to extend through the book of leave'si'and adapted to detachabl-y connect with the other of said Wheninthisposition it is'easy to operate the s's a "2.In a deviceof the class described, two.

clamping bars'adapted to be disposed'at opclamping bars, means carried by said other v of the clamping bars for detachably and releasably, connecting with said means,'two covers one locatedagainst each side of the book of leaves'and oined by a flexible back strip,

a plate permanently secured at the inneredge of each cover, and detachable means for hingedly connecting said plates atone edge to -'the'-edge of the adjacentclampingbar.

3. In a. device of the class described, a

lower clampingv bar, a hinge member located at each endof the clamping bar underneath the same, a vertical: guide attachedto said clamping bar at each end, each of saidguides at its lower end being formed with Jan inturned portion disposed between the hinge member and the clamping bar, lips turned upwardly from each hinge member at the outer ends thereof, an extensible post secured to said clamping bar between its ends and extending upwardly therefrom, a bar pro-' vided with a recess in each end thereof adapted'to 'lie againstthe upper side of the book of leaves, two extensible posts extending therefrom in'a downward direction, one at each side of the first named post,a second clampingbar located against the second mentioned bar, hinge members attached one at each end and at the upper'side ofthe last named clamping bar, said hinge members being formed with down-turnedlips at their outer ends seating in recesses in the ends of the second mentioned bar, said second mentioned bar and the second clamping bar having openings forthe passage of the upper v 7i) of these features combining simplicity, durability, practical economy of manufacend of the first post, a latching device at-' tached at the upper side of the second clamping bar through which the upper end of the first post passes, and means carried by said latching device for automatically engaging with the upper end of the first post and thereby securing the clamping bars together.

r 4. A construction containing the elements in combination defined in claim 3, combined with means for manually releasing said latching device to free the upper clamping bar and the s'econ'd mentioned bar located against it from said book of-leaves.

5. A construction containing the elements in combination defined in claim 3, combined with two covers located oneat each side of the book of leaves, a plate permanently secured to each cover at an edge thereof, and detachable means for hingedly connecting saidplates to the hinge members of the adj acent clamping bars. 1

6. In a device'of the class described, two clamping bars adapted to be located at opposite sides and adjacent an edge of a book of leaves, an extensible binding post located near the center of one of said clamping bars and adapted to pass through openings in said leaves, means for detachably connecting one of said clamping bars to the end of said extensible binding post, a plate adapted to be interposed between said book of leaves and said detachably connected clamping bar, extensible guide posts attached to said plate and adapted to extend through openings in said leaves and interengaging means on said plate and the adjacent clamping bar for poiitioning the'plate relative to said clamping In testimony whereof We affix our signatures.

WILLIAM S. PROUDFIT. EDWARD F. GRAFQ 

